Hawaii Travel Guide

Roughly sixty percent of the million-plus modern Hawaiians were born here. Around one-third are Caucasian (many of them US military personnel), one-third Japanese and one-sixth Filipino, with 200,000 claiming at least some Hawaiian ancestry. The traditional reliance on agriculture seems to be in terminal decline, with sugar and pineapple plantations closing one after the other, and the need to import virtually all the basics of life has resulted in an extraordinarily high cost of living . In particular, the cost of housing is so high that many islanders find themselves either obliged to work at two jobs, or simply to sleep on the beaches.

Visitors in search of the ancient Hawaii will find that few vestiges remain. What is presented as "historic" usually postdates the missionary impact. Although the ruins of temples ( heiaus ) to the old gods still stand in some places - notably on the Big Island - and committed campaigners work to revive traditional philosophies, the "old towns" are pure nineteenth-century Americana, with false-front stores and raised wooden boardwalks. The two biggest festivals are the Big Island's week-long Merrie Monarch Festival , honoring King David Kalakaua (mid-April), and the statewide King Kamehameha events (around June 11). Authentic hula dancing is a powerful art form, but you're far more likely to encounter it bastardized in a luau . Primarily tourist money-spinners, these "traditional feasts" provide an opportunity to sample Hawaiian foods such as kalua pig, baked underground, and local fish such as ono, ahi, mahi mahi and lomi-lomi (raw salmon). Poi - a paste made from mashed taro root - remains a staple of the diet, much as it was when one of Captain Cook's men described it as "a disagreeable mess."

The Hawaiian language endures in place names and music. At first glance it looks unpronounceable - especially as it is written using a mere twelve letters (the five vowels, plus h, k, l, m, n, p and w ). Usually, each letter is enunciated individually - glottal stops indicate a pause for breath. Long words often break down into repeated sounds, such as " meha-meha " in "Kamehameha." Hawaii itself is more correctly written (and pronounced) Hawai'i , but for visual clarity we've omitted the glottal stops in this guide.